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Before the Rain

Play trailer Poster for Before the Rain 1995 1h 55m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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92% Tomatometer 37 Reviews 94% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
This acclaimed Macedonian drama presents intersecting romantic storylines set both in that country and abroad. A young monk named Kiril (Grégoire Colin) becomes involved with Zamira (Labina Mitevska), an Albanian girl accused of murder, while far away in London, Aleksander (Rade Serbedzija), a weary photojournalist, meets with his married lover, Anne (Katrin Cartlidge). When Aleksander returns to his Macedonian village, his life crosses paths with characters from earlier in the film.

Critics Reviews

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Carrie Rickey Philadelphia Inquirer In this triptych of inhumanity, Manchevski answers that, finally, man's humanity is as immutable as his violence. And that, finally, love is a given that keeps on giving. Rated: 3.5/4 Jul 27, 2015 Full Review Dave Kehr New York Daily News We'll have to wait for Manchevski's next feature to know whether he's an artist or a shrewd entertainer. In the meantime, Before the Rain is one of the more worthy efforts of the season. Rated: 3/4 Jul 27, 2015 Full Review Michael Wilmington Chicago Tribune It shakes you up the way many other notable foreign-language film debuts once did -- films like"Breathless, The 400 Blows or Knife in the Water. Rated: 4/4 Jul 27, 2015 Full Review Carson Timar ButteredPopcorn With incredibly well-crafted performances, a touching screenplay, and a larger thematic purpose; Before the Rain really does impress and absolutely deserves to be sought out. Rated: A- Aug 28, 2022 Full Review Malcolm Johnson Hartford Courant Brilliantly filmed by writer-director Milcho Manchevski in the rugged hills of Macedonia and the gray streets of London, this three-part tale proves a revelation, spellbindingly told and disturbingly contemporary. Rated: 4.5/5 May 3, 2018 Full Review Quentin Curtis Independent on Sunday This is a formidable debut for Manchevski, who wrote the film as well as directed it... If all his films are as noble, beautiful and humane as his first, the American cinema will have a new master. Dec 14, 2017 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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dave s Told over three connected stories that intertwine and wrap around themselves like an image by Escher, Before the Rain is a meditation on the circular, repetitive nature of violence and war stemming from cultural intolerance and religious ignorance. Set primarily in rural Macedonia, a young Albanian Muslim girl kills a Macedonian man, triggering a tragic chain of events that reverberate as far as London, the setting of the second section of the triptych. It's a complex film, both thematically and structurally, that requires some thought after the credits roll and is as timely today as it would be at any other time in human history. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member The purpose of the loops is not narrative, but to make them ambiguous. The highlight of the structure is not the loops, but the collages and interlaces that intersperse them. It is not the story that is to be told, but the thing that pervades always lingers. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review Audience Member Slow movie with not that much happening. Does not provide any insights into way these people have mindless dislike of each other, other than perhaps "historical" animosity. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member gr8 film debut 4 writer/director Manchevski this reminded me of 'pulp fiction' which was also released in 1994 Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Before The Rain requires and delivers intelligence, passions and tons of emotion. The characters in this complex story still haunt and inspire me years after I first watched it. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member One of the best movies that ever came out of the Balkans. Such a detailed portrait of the mentality and everlasting conflict based on national and religious identification. See it once, then see it again let it settle in you to invest yourself in the story of the geopolitical and socioeconomic situation on the balkans. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Before the Rain

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Cast & Crew

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Milcho Manchevski

Director

Katrin Cartlidge

Anne

Rade Serbedzija

Aleksander

Grégoire Colin

Kiril

Labina Mitevska

Zamira

Silvija Stojanovska

Hana

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Before the Rain

Before the Rain (1994) Before the Rain (1994) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis This acclaimed Macedonian drama presents intersecting romantic storylines set both in that country and abroad. A young monk named Kiril (Grégoire Colin) becomes involved with Zamira (Labina Mitevska), an Albanian girl accused of murder, while far away in London, Aleksander (Rade Serbedzija), a weary photojournalist, meets with his married lover, Anne (Katrin Cartlidge). When Aleksander returns to his Macedonian village, his life crosses paths with characters from earlier in the film.
Director
Milcho Manchevski
Producer
Judy Counihan, Cédomir Kolar, Sam Taylor, Cat Villiers
Distributor
Gramercy Pictures
Production Co
British Screen Productions, European Co-production Fund
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 24, 1995, Original
Release Date (DVD)
Jun 24, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA)
$431.1K
Runtime
1h 55m